Iona is back in the NCAA Tournament, a familiar sight for the school that made six appearances in 10 years under former head coach Tim Cleuss, but now, the Gaels make their March Madness arrival with another recognizable face.
Rick Pitino has been here many times himself, having secured plenty of his own tournament success in nearly two decades at Louisville, and now, the first-year head coach at Iona has led the school back into the madness in his first year coaching in college since 2017.
Pitino's future as a collegiate coach was very much in doubt in 2017, when he was fired in the wake of Louisville's pay-for-play scandal that included a federal investigation, but the two-time national champion has shown he still has the coaching touch, which has put his future at Iona in a bit of doubt.
But if you ask Pitino, none of that doubt is coming from him, as he told Moose & Maggie on Friday that he is with the Gaels for the long haul, even if higher profile have come calling amid Iona's recent success.
"People have reached out," Pitino said. "I'm not going to say where."
For Pitino, it doesn't matter where the calls came from. He has no plans of making a move, and wants that to be made clear.
"I'm here at Iona because they were there for me, and I'm going to be there for them," Pitino said. "That's the end of the story. That's why I'm on record publicly all the time on interviews like this one."
Pitino is closing in on 800 career wins as a head coach, has taken three different programs to the Final Four and has won a national title within the last decade, but his focus is on the small catholic New York school that brought him back from coaching overseas, and gave him a chance to get back to the tournament.
"But I've made it clear publicly…even if you say these things people don't believe you," Pitino said. "But when you come out publicly and you're out in front of that camera and you're being taped and all of a sudden you go to UNLV or whatever school, and they start playing back everything you said about 20 times how you would never leave this school because of loyalty…you look like the biggest dirtbag on earth if you ever did something like that."
Pitino isn't saying he will be at Iona forever. In fact, if there was a chance to go back overseas to coach, like he did in Greece before coming to Iona, he may take a look. But that would be way down the road, and as for another college? At this point, it wouldn't be considered.
"I have publicly done that for a reason, to be on record," Pitino said. "Now, would I possibly someday way down the road if my health is good enough to go back to the Euro League and coach there? That's a possibility. Would I want to coach anywhere else in college? Absolutely not."
Pitino wanted to make that part especially clear: when it comes to coaching in college, he will only do so for the Gaels from here on out.
"If I wanted to entertain something down the road, I would say 'You know, I just want to take it one day at a time, I just want to make my team the best it can be today, I'm not thinking about the future,'" Pitino said. "So then you're on record saying you have no idea what you want. That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying 'I'm not coaching at any other college as long as I'm in these coaching ranks.' I'm on record, and I'm going to stay on record."
If Iona is truly where Pitino sees himself for the next several years, his inaugural season is off to a good start, as the Gaels get set to take on second-seeded Alabama in the first round on Saturday.
"I'm going to build something special at Iona," Pitino said. "I'm going to build something we all love, with great integrity, great hustle and great passion, and I'm looking forward to that."
Listen to Pitino's full interview with Moose & Maggie below!
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